The Cowboys (18-6) take on Air Force (11-11) at the AA tonight (6pm tip-off) in search of their 19th win of the season. It is a critical home game that Wyoming must win to keep their name in the NCAA bubble talk. With conference play rapidly heading down the front stretch, let’s take a look at a couple of stats that jumped out at me that have helped and hurt the Pokes so far this season.

 

+3.3 : Team Turover Margin

The Cowboys lead the MW in turnover margin thanks to their stingy defense and the improved play of PG JayDee Luster who leads the conference in assist to turnover ratio at 2.4. This is a boost from last year where Wyoming was just under +1 for the season. 

 

.582 : Leonard Washington’s Shooting %

The USC transfer leads the league in FG percentage and is a full 8 percent ahead of  the next best shooting rate held by New Mexico’s Drew Gordon. Washington has only attempted 196 shots though ranking 3rd on the team behind Cruz and Martinez. It may be wise to get Washington more looks in the games ahead.

 

.339 : Team Three Point Shooting %

The Cowboys have improved their three-point shooting from last year (up to 33% from 28%) but rank 7th in the MW only ahead of Air Force. A lot of the teams offensive struggles at time can be attributed to shot selection. While I like the confidence of the shooters to keep shooting sometimes it would be better to get to the basket more than settling for an outside shot. Once Shyatt builds a squad with a better outside-inside balance, with the coaching staff’s commitment to team defense the sky really is the limit.